United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

CALIFORNIA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MARRIAGE FRAUD CHARGES

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TIN IV, age 71, of Stockton, California, pleaded guilty today to charges relating to a marriage fraud scheme in which United States citizens residing in Connecticut and California were paid to travel to Cambodia and marry Cambodian nationals so that the Cambodians could obtain immigrant visas, permitting them to enter and live in the United States. United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez accepted IV's plea of guilty this morning in Hartford.

IV and another resident of California previously were named in an indictment that charges that from approximately March 2001 through approximately March 2003, IV and others conspired to defraud the United States by arranging and facilitating fraudulent marriages between Cambodian nationals and U.S. citizens, which were undertaken to evade U.S. immigration laws, and to impair, obstruct, and defeat the lawful functions of the U.S. Department of State and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now known as the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services).

In the course of the court proceeding today, IV admitted that he caused U.S. citizens from Connecticut and California to travel from the United States to Cambodia. Once in Cambodia, the U.S. citizens participated in marriage ceremonies with Cambodian nationals who were strangers to them in exchange for cash payments from IV, usually in the amount of $7,000. IV admitted that he usually paid part of the $7,000 to the U.S. citizens while they were in Cambodia to marry the foreign nationals; the remainder was to be paid to the U.S. citizens once their spouses obtained visas and/or arrived in the United States. IV further admitted that he received money from family members of the foreign nationals – sometimes as much as $25,000 – as payment for arranging the fraudulent marriages with the U.S. citizens.

IV admitted that he told the U.S. citizens who entered into the marriages at his direction that they would not have to live with their Cambodian spouses once the Cambodians arrived in the United States, and that they would only have to stay married to their spouses for a limited period of time. IV admitted that between March 2001 and March 2003, he arranged at least 25 such fraudulent marriages, and that in several instances U.S. citizens from Connecticut traveled to Cambodia to enter into the marriages. IV admitted that he paid for these individuals' air fare, hotels and meals while they were in Cambodia, in addition to providing them with cash in exchange for their participation in the scheme.

IV will face a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment and fines up to $500,000 when he is sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny on April 30, 2004.

Sourasay Sikhounmeuang and Christina Dixon, both of Torrington, Connecticut, previously pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy and/or marriage fraud charges, in connection with IV's marriage fraud scheme. Sikhounmeuang and Dixon await sentencing.

"Individuals who seek to profit by brokering fraudulent marriages between U.S. citizens and foreign nationals will be punished," U.S. Attorney O'Connor stated. "This prosecution demonstrates that federal law enforcement authorities are determined to prosecute schemes that are intended to evade our nation's immigration laws. Citizens of other countries who wish to immigrate to the United States must do so in accordance with the law, and will not be permitted to gain an unfair advantage over others by engaging in marriage fraud."

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service. The Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, has provided assistance in the investigation, as has the Torrington and Stockton (California) Police Departments. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan Biran.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov